
ELOQUENTIA FORTITU-
dine praestantior.[1]
Eloquence superior to strength
Arcum leva tenet, rigidam fert dextera clavam,
Contegit & Nemees corpora nuda leo.
Herculis haec igitur facies? non convenit illud,
Quòd vetus & senio tempora cana gerit.
Quid quod lingua illi levibus traiecta cathenis,
Quîs fissa facili allicit aure viros.
Link to an image of this page [E6v]An ne quod Alcyden lingua non robore Galli,
Praestantem populis iura dedisse ferunt.
Cedunt arma togae,[2] & quamvis durissima corda,
Eloquio pollens ad sua vota trahit.
His left hand holds a bow, his right hand a stout club, the lion of Nemea clothes his bare body. So this is a figure of Hercules. But he is old and his temples grizzled with age - that does not fit. What of the fact that his tongue has light chains passing through it, by which he draws men along with ready ears pierced? The reason is surely that the Gauls say that Alceus’ descendant excelled in eloquence rather than might and gave laws to the nations. - Weapons yield to the arts of peace, and even the hardest of hearts the skilled speaker can lead where he will.
Related Emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion (+ skin, fleece, hide, fur, leather) [25F23(LION)(+351)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- four persons ®® KEY (79) TO 31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) [31A(+74)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tongue [31A22141] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards (+ holding something) [31A2515(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm or hand held in front of the body (+ holding something) [31A2516(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- walking [31A2711] Search | Browse Iconclass
- mutilated person [31A419:31A22141] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ four persons) [31D14(+74)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- old man [31D16] Search | Browse Iconclass
- barefoot [41D2339] Search | Browse Iconclass
- man (showing himself) undressed, quasi-nude [41D91] Search | Browse Iconclass
- weapons for striking a blow: club [45C12(CLUB)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- archer's weapons: bow [45C15(BOW)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- prisoners chained to the victor's chariot (+ variant) [45I612(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries (with NAME) [47D8(CHAIN)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hercules Gallicus: he captivates his audience with a golden chain going from his mouth to their ears (+ variant) [94L73(+0)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Hercules (with NAME) [94L8(CLUB)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Hercules (with NAME) [94L8(LION'S SKIN)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- ears [31A2213] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Europeans (with NAME) [32B311(FRENCHMEN)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- 'litterae', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ literature; 'Lettere' (Ripa) [48C90] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Power of Eloquence; 'Forza sottoposta all'Eloquenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D31(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass
Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.

ANTIQUISSIMA QUAEQUE
commentitia.
The oldest things are all invented
Emblema 181.
Pallenaee senex, cui forma est histrica Proteu,[1]
Qui modo membra viri fers, modo membra feri:
Dic age, quae species ratio te vertit in omnes,
Nulla sit ut vario certa figura tibi?
Signa vetustatis, primaevi & praefero secli,[2]
De quo quisque suo somniat arbitrio.
Proteus, old man of Pallene, whose outward appearance changes like an actor’s, assuming sometimes the body of a man, sometimes that of a beast, come, tell me, what is your reason for turning into all kinds of shapes, so that you have no permanent form as you constantly alter? I offer symbols of antiquity and the very first times, concerning which everyone dreams up what he will.
1. Proteus was ‘the Old Man of the Sea’, who evaded capture by constantly changing his shape. See e.g. Homer, Odyssey, 4.400ff.; Vergil, Georgics, 4. 405-10, 440-2; Erasmus, Adagia, 1174 (Proteo mutabilior). Vergil (Georgics, 4.391) describes him living near the headland of Pallene (on the Macedonian coast). The idea of Proteus as a gifted actor or mime-artist is taken from Lucian, Saltatio, 19.
2. signa vetustatis primaevi et...secli, ‘symbols of antiquity and the very first times’. Pallene (see n.1.) suggested a connection with the Greek word παλαιός ‘ancient’, as the name Proteus was supposedly connected with πρώτιστος, ‘the very first’.
Related Emblems

Hint: You can set whether related emblems are displayed by default on the preferences page
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- sun represented as face, wheel, etc. [24A6] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of birds (+ flying animal(s)) [25F31(+5262)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fabulous animals ~ fishes [25FF6] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sea (seascape) [25H23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- wave [25H2311] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking over the shoulder [31A247] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched sidewards (+ holding something) [31A2513(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- monsters ~ swimming mammals (+ tail) [31A4527(+23)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking upwards [31B6211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sports, games ~ animals (+ trident) [43C1(+41621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Proteus [92H4] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- historical epochs [23T0] Search | Browse Iconclass
- symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ poetry; 'Poesia' (Ripa) [48C901] Search | Browse Iconclass
- history and archaeology (+ invention ~ scientific research) [49K1(+55)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Change (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51K1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Invention, Inventiveness; 'Inventione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52A42(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) [52A44] Search | Browse Iconclass
Hint: You can turn translations and name underlining on or off using the preferences page.